The associations of alexithymic features couples with relationship stability and happiness orientations in married

Considering the relevant studies which state that alexithymia has an important role in marital relations through empathy of spouses and understanding each other, it has been observed that there are a limited number of studies that examine alexithymia, relationship stability and happiness orientations together. In this study; The relationship of alexithymia subdimensions with relationship stability and happiness orientation sub-dimensions was investigated in a healthy population without a known neurological or psychiatric disease. The study was conducted with 120 married couples aged between 20-60 years. The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS), the Relationship Stability Scale (RSS), and the Happiness Orientation Scale (HOS) were administered to the participants. The sample of the study was grouped according to alexithymic characteristics and statistically analyzed in terms of RSS and HOS sub-dimensions and sociodemographic variables. 'Pearson Correlation Analysis' for examining the relationships between variables of the study; 'Hierarchical Regression Analysis' was conducted to examine the variables independently from sociodemographic factors. As a result of the analysis, it was seen that the Relationship Satisfaction scores were higher in women under the age of 35. It has been found that women who have been married for 0-5 years had higher Evaluation of the Quality of Options and Relationship Satisfaction scores, while those who have been married for more than 5 years showed higher Relationship Investment and Meaning of Life scores. In the alexithymic group, the scores of Relationship Attachment and Relationship Investment in women; Evaluation of the Quality of Options was higher in men compared to the non-alexithymic group. Difficulty in Recognizing Emotions and Relationship Attachment were found to be positively related in women. The negative relationship between Difficulty in Expressing Emotions and Relationship Satisfaction obtained from women is compatible with the literature. Contrary to the literature, in women Life Engagement were positively related with Difficulty Recognizing Emotions; and in men, Life Engagement were positivley related with Difficulty Recognizing Emotions and Verbalizing. These findings, which contradict the literature, are discussed by considering gender roles.